If there's one word I'd use to describe Snowpiercer, it'd be "interesting." I had no expectations about this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised by the premise of the story, which was actually quite original in my opinion. It takes place on a train carrying the rest of humanity in post-apocalyptic Earth that has been circling the same route for 18 years now. Now, I can imagine a post-apocalyptic society living underground or in a bubble but on a train? At first I thought it was pretty stupid, but it grew on me. It truly was a very unique situation and something that I at first thought to be a little strange, but grew to be intrigued by. I'd hate to be a passenger on the Train of Perpetual Hell.

The cinematography in Snowpiercer was great, especially during the scene where they're fighting in the tunnel just after they pass the bridge. The little slivers of light and night vision POVs were fantastic, as well as seeing Chan, a little kid, carry the torch. Not only that, but watching the characters travel through the different sections of the train starting from the greenhouse area to the front of the engine was pretty neat. I thought the set design was great, and seeing the stations where all of those first class passengers were eating brunch and partying were just unreal. However, the CGI-generated scenes of the frozen outside world were mediocre, at best.

The acting in this movie was phenomenal, but my favorite performance was definitely Tilda Swinton. Her character was just so over-the-top and outrageous and was more than just comic relief. I also loved Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris, Song Kang-ho and Ko Ah-Sung's performances, and I think a lot of it was due to the great script.

I really enjoyed all of the characters, and despite virtually all of them dying, I thought that their sacrifices were disappointing but also realistic. In addition to realism, the brutality that many of the characters faced were definitely not sweetened up, which I kinda liked. I expected things to happen that usually happen in movies, but most of them never took place. For example, I thought Curtis was going to run back and help Edgar instead of getting Mason during the battle at the bridge, but NOPE! he left his friend behind to get her. Not only that, but I assumed that the head henchman wasn't actually going to shoot Gilliam in the head but NOPE! he really did! The blood splatters across the train windows in the bridge battle were a little much, but I still believed that they added to the realism. None of the savagery, cruelty, pain, or gravity of the situation in this movie is toned down or softened up, which left me with some real, raw emotions. And thanks to the wonderful actors doing their jobs, I could feel these feelings through my TV screen (especially the part where Curtis talks about his past... just wow. You're a great man, Chris Evans). There are some graphic and gory parts, but not enough to make me turn my head away (with the exception of a few scenes). Yet, I still found myself screaming out loud/gasping audibly from time to time due to some shocking/unexpected deaths (that cool shirtless guy with the knives!!) and various surprises (Yona finding the kids under the floorboards of the front of the train). I found myself knees-deep in their issues, and I think the many plot twists just contributed to me being sucked into the story.

I will admit that there were some cheesy/ridiculous things in the movie, but I feel like they just added to the story. For example, when the train crossed the bridge and all of those henchmen stopped fighting and shouted "Happy New Year!" was just sooo silly.

(And can we just appreciate how this movie was filmed on a set that was essentially 6 feet wide? Imagine how cramped the actors must have felt but they did great, so kudos to them!)

I had some questions at the end that were left unanswered, mostly concerning what happened to Curtis, Nam, and the other passengers. I understand that they probably died, but some clarification would be nice (I'm trying to be impartial to Chris Evans but man, I just love that guy so much I wouldn't want any of his characters to die). Also, were there any survivors other than Yona and Tanya's son (ahhh I can't remember his name!)? Definitely some things I wouldn't expect to be clarified in this movie, but I guess that's a good thing, because it left me pondering.

Anyways, the more I think about it, the better the movie gets in my mind. I will definitely watch this again in the future. I gave it an 8/10 because it was a really good story but there were some weird elements that I felt didn't make any decent contribution.